Our guide to watering new turf

Ensuring turf is kept moist when it is getting established is essential – it simply won’t grow enough to root if it isn’t regularly watered. But what constitutes regularly? And how long should it be watered for?

In this blog, we take a look at irrigating fresh turf to ensure you get the lawn or wildflower meadow you deserve.

Why does turf need to be watered?  

The first thing we need to establish is why you need to water new turf and what would happen if you didn’t. There’s a simple answer to that. Grass is 75 – 85% water by weight, so without regularly topping that up, especially in the establishment phase, it will simply wither and die.

Water also has a number of vital functions in grass, as it does all living creatures.

For example, water is the primary medium grass uses to move nutrients, organic compounds, and gases through the plant, so it is vital for ensuring nutrition reaches the places it is needed.

Water is also a vital primary compound in photosynthesis, without which, the plant cannot generate the energy it needs to grow.

Water helps maintain turgidity of plant cells, so the grass swards can stand up, and it supports cell enlargement and cell division, which is the basis of growth.

These are just a small number of vital functions water carries out in grass plants, and without it, the plant cannot develop. This means that to get the best out of your turf, you really need to water it.

Signs of water deprivation

If water is so important and underpins so many vital functions, what are the signs of water deprivation? After all, knowing these will help you to judge when your new turf is in need of a drink.

The first sign of water stress in turf is wilting of the swards. This is because as the water level drops, turgidity of the cells drops and the grass become less rigid. As a result, they swards begin to wilt. One way to test this is to walk on the grass and check if it bounces back after you’ve stood on it. If it doesn’t, it is showing signs of water stress.

One really obvious sign is dry, cracked soil. If the soil is bone dry, then the grass roots will be too. In this case, it is a question of act now to prevent further damage.

Another give away is the grass changing colour. Typically, most varieties of grass turn brown in the absence of water, although others can turn different colours.

Long roots may also be a sign of water stress, as the roots have tried to reach further down into the soil to find moisture. If you try pulling individual plants out and find it is very difficult, or the sward comes away leaving the root behind, it may well be that the plant is water stressed, particularly if this is combined with other signs listed.

How often do you need to water new turf?

Okay, so we now know why turf needs water and what signs to look out for to know when it needs water. So how often do you need to water it and for how long?

In the early days, that is for two or four weeks after the turf is laid, it needs to be watered every day without fail. This is unless a period of heavy rainfall follows the turf being laid, in which case you can let nature take its course until it stops. After which, commence watering again.

If you’re laying the turf in spring of summer, however, this is unlikely to be the case, so getting the hosepipe out is a must.

In the first week after being laid, fresh turf should be watered two to three times a day, every day, depending on the climate and time of year.

This is because when turf is harvested by the grower, it loses around 70% of its root mass. To ensure this grows back quickly and the turf can root fully to the soil it is laid on, it needs large quantities of water to regrow that root mass and access the nutrients it needs to be healthy.

After this, the turf still needs watering on a regular basis, especially if it has been laid in the summer. Two to three times per week should be sufficient to ensure rooting continues and the turf becomes suitably established.

How long should I water new turf for?

There are a number of different factors that influence how much water your new turf will need, including soil type, how exposed your garden is, which direction it faces, and the local weather conditions. As a rule, a garden more exposed to the sun and to wind will dry out more quickly that one that isn’t, which means turf laid under these conditions will require more watering.

The first watering after laying the turf needs to be comprehensive. It doesn’t matter if water puddles on top of the turf at this stage, as it will soon soak through.

Later waterings don’t need to be quite so extensive – having water sat on the surface for longer than 15 mins can sometimes be damaging to the grass – but you still need to apply a significant amount. The aim is to ensure the top 10cm of soil doesn’t dry out for at least half an hour after you finishing watering as that will be sufficient time for the turf roots to absorb plenty of water.

Ultimately, as you water more frequently, you will develop a feel for the quantity of water your turf needs to stay moist. And as it grows, assessing how well it is rooting and how healthy the grass looks will provide ongoing insights into whether or not you’re watering enough.

Can you over-water turf?

Although fresh turf does require a lot of watering to develop the root structure and get established, it is possible to over-water it. If new turf, or any turf or grass for that matter, is stood for long periods of time in pools of water, moss and grass diseases can develop, ruining your newly laid turf. Excessive watering can also rot the root system of the fresh turf.

Once the turf has fully rooted and become either a new lawn or wildflower meadow in the case of our wildflower or species rich varieties, then it will require much less watering. In fact, over watering at this stage can actually make the grass lazy. It means the roots don’t have to work hard to access moisture in the soil and therefore don’t grow as strong as they otherwise would.

So, once the lawn is fully established, use your judgement to decide if it needs watering. In the event of a hot summer where rainfall has been low, the soil is hard, dry, and cracked, then your lawn probably needs water.

But if the grass looks healthy, has had sporadic rainfall, bounces back when you stand on it, is thick and lush in colour, then put away the hosepipe, you lawn is in great shape!

Always choose plastic-free turf

Whatever you’re planning to create with your turf, whether that is a new lawn or a beautiful wildflower meadow effect in your garden, always ensure the turf you choose is plastic-free.

Some growers continue to use plastic mesh as a growing medium for turf, meaning when it is laid, single-use plastics are buried in the soil. Here they degrade into microplastics that pollute the soil and can even get into local watercourses and into the food chain.

We believe it is time this practice ended which is why all of our turf is plastic-free and grown on sandy loam soil.

To check out all of our plastic-free turf varieties, click here https://turf.co.uk/all-products